Open mouth, insert foot

All the brouhaha over Isaiah Washington’s use of a pejorative made me do something till now I had no interest in doing — watch an episode of Grey’s Anatomy.

Medical dramas are not my thing. I am easily queasy, and medical dramas these days do not shy away from the gore. Besides, I watch way too many crime dramas to make room for their medical counterparts.

That, and Grey’s Anatomy just struck me as a show about a bunch of doctors hooking up with each other because, hell, that world is so insular, who else can you screw?

My interest in the show piqued when I realized T.R. Knight played a particularly elusive villain on Law & Order: Criminal Intent. Knight played Neil Colby in the episode "F.P.S.", and Colby’s technical wizardry kept Det. Robert Goren (Vincent D’Onfrio) a run for his money. I don’t think Goren got this much push back from a suspect since Nicole Wallace.

I remembered Knight because there was just a slight hint of a gay subtext in the way he played Colby, but most importantly, he wore glasses and looked really hot in them.

So I’ve been following the whole Grey’s Anatomy scandal! quite casually. (Yes, I do believe at this point the correct spelling of scandal! includes an exclamation mark.) I’ve got the AfterElton blog and Towleroad in my newsfeed reader, and both sites have called for Washington’s firing.

I’m not emotionally attached to the show to have an opinion, and I don’t want to join a mob just because there is one. TiVo has been encouraging me to watch the show by recording it for me based on the other shows I watch. So I took its advice and watched it, just to gauge how the scandal! would affect the show.

I have to say both Washington and Knight are terrific actors — you couldn’t guess judging by the scenes they’re both in that one called the other a faggot. Then again, Shannon Doherty and Alyssa Milano were troopers getting through that fourth season of Charmed before Doherty got fired.

Should Washington get fired for exhibiting uncouth behavior? Would such a firing be beneficial to the show? My one viewing didn’t inform me, and neither has the casual attention I’ve paid the scandal!

My inclination to join the mob is borne out of self-interest — I wouldn’t want to be called a fag, and I’m uncomfortable with the idea that while Washington may be chastised by one community, others would see no problem with his behavior.

Another thing that bothers me about the entire scandal! is a member of one minority lashing out at another. I’m mean, c’mon — the ultimate target ought to be straight white men. We need African-Americans calling gay people faggots as much as we need Asian-Americans calling Muslims towelheads.